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Works at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Stable with an easy initial setup and good batch management
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is fairly straightforward."
  • "The solution is a bit heavy on the sources such as RAM or CPU and the software needs to be a bit lighter."

What is most valuable?

The new CMD features are excellent. It is like a cloud environment gateway. 

The batch management is very helpful. The software deployment happens in there. 

There are many features relevant to many of our clients.

The initial setup is fairly straightforward.

What needs improvement?

The interface needs to be a little bit simpler. Right now, it's a bit hard to navigate with ease.

The integration capabilities could be better. They need to expand this aspect of their product.

The solution is a bit heavy on the sources such as RAM or CPU and the software needs to be a bit lighter.

SCCM does not support Linux and Unix. That has been deprecated and is no longer there. 

It would be ideal if the solution came with more features supporting Mac, then it would be a better product.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is quite stable. We haven't really dealt with bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You can scale it up if you need to. You can add the client servers, for example. I've had multiple primary sites that I get as I go. A company that needs to scale can do so with relative ease.

We deal with companies that are often medium-sized or enterprise-level.

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How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good. It's provided by Microsoft and we have lots of cases with Microsoft. They have been able to support us effectively so far. We're satisfied with the support so far.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

SCCM has been the only product that we have worked on. We haven't used anything else. We haven't worked with BigFix or anything like that.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. It's not overly complex. That said, anyone who's doing it needs to be a bit clever. It's not for people with little technological background. There is a bit of research required. You need to learn a bit about the product for effective deployment.

What about the implementation team?

We handle the deployments for clients.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't deal with the pricing. I'm not aware of the costs in general. I can't say if it's reasonable or expensive. It's not my area of expertise.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I haven't really evaluated other solutions. However, I just received a proposal from one of our sales associates, and the company had BigFix. They were trying to move on to SCCM. They had some questions regarding whether the same features would be available in SCCM or not. That's the reason I went to do some comparisons.

What other advice do I have?

We are Microsoft partners. I'm a consultant. This solution is being used by my client's companies.

We are using the latest version of the solution, which is 2010.

I would recommend SCCM based on the requirement of the customers. However, if they are looking for Unix and Linux support, which is no longer in SCCM, I'd recommend BigFix. That solution is better for Unix and Linux.

Anybody who wants to implement SCCM should do some research online, depending upon what features they want. Once they see that SCCM will be able to manage, will be able to resolve their issues, they should choose it. However, they need to look for a partner, a Microsoft partner, that can take help from them for deployment purposes.

I would rate the solution eight out of ten. If the product used less resources, I would rate it higher

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Specialist (US IT Recruiter) at MOURI Tech
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
A systems management software good detailed descriptions, but dependency relationships could be better
Pros and Cons
  • "It uses detailed descriptions of the workstations, and that is good for me."
  • "I want the system to provide some dependency relations. I would also like to see the relationship between different machines."

What is our primary use case?

We use SCCM to access user data.

How has it helped my organization?

Basically, my requirement was to get the data from wherever it was available within the organization. SCCM helped identify how many computers we had, what software was loaded on it, what different types of data were available, and so on. It helped us a lot when it came to extracting the data.

What is most valuable?

It uses detailed descriptions of the workstations, and that is good for me.

What needs improvement?

I think SCCM can improve whatever details they shared with the integration partner. There was a lot of junk software and data. There should be flexibility to allow us to extract the data we require. In other words, the flexibility of accepting the specific data that we are looking for.

I want the system to provide some dependency relations. For example, you have a laptop, and you start working on it. If I can be informed that you're using the laptop at work, other machines that are dependent on this laptop will be able to provide that dependency relationship. I would like to see the relationship between different machines.

For a small-scale industry, the storage capacity is good. However, the performance and storage capacity could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SCCM for a while as part of an integration project.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are running almost 5,000 machines, and it was working fine from a performance perspective. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward and took us about a week to deploy this solution. The strategy was simple. We just had to do it in the same plugin, and we actually did learn on the job each day.

What about the implementation team?

We used an integrator, and we still use them regularly or even daily. We might use them for other integrations as well.

What other advice do I have?

I would tell potential users that SCCM is a good solution if their focus is on the number of computers and laptops they have in the company.

I used it for the first time, and it was good. But users should know what kind of databases they are using and if the integration has sufficient rights to access that data.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give SCCM a seven.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Configuration Manager
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Configuration Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
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reviewer1566693 - PeerSpot reviewer
Market Data and Solace Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Scalable, but needs more automation
Pros and Cons
  • "SCCM is a stable solution."
  • "I would like to see more automation."

What is our primary use case?

SCCM is used to manage both users, and your devices. It's an administration tool used for endpoint protection.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see more automation.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SCCM for three years.

We are using the 2019 version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SCCM is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have not scaled with this solution. I use it for a specific reason.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have never contacted Microsoft technical support. I use our internal support.

How was the initial setup?

I was not involved in the installation of this solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it.

I would rate SCCM a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Développeur at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Does the job, meets our needs, and makes deployment easier
Pros and Cons
  • "It does the job and meets our needs. With everybody working remotely these days, we are using this solution to deploy everything. The deployment of PCs is easy."
  • "It should provide the ability to remotely connect to mobile devices. There are some solutions that are doing that, but with Microsoft Intune, the only way to remotely connect to devices outside the organization and mobile devices is by using TeamViewer. It is pretty strange for a big company like Microsoft to not have something for that."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Microsoft SCCM as the deployment platform for our environment to deploy laptops and PCs for the help desk technicians. We also use it to deploy applications and servers and provide some reports to the organization about what is currently deployed. We are using its latest version.

How has it helped my organization?

We do not have a big IT department, so it solves a major part of our problems and makes it easier to deploy applications, servers, PCs, etc.

What is most valuable?

It does the job and meets our needs. With everybody working remotely these days, we are using this solution to deploy everything. The deployment of PCs is easy.

What needs improvement?

It should provide the ability to remotely connect to mobile devices. There are some solutions that are doing that, but with Microsoft Intune, the only way to remotely connect to devices outside the organization and mobile devices is by using TeamViewer. It is pretty strange for a big company like Microsoft to not have something for that.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable. When the applications are set up correctly, we didn't face any major problems. Most of the problems are related to DNS and other things that are outside of SCCM. They are not related to SCCM.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Currently, our business is really stable, and there is no need to increase the devices in our organization. We have six technicians who are using it currently.

How are customer service and technical support?

We are not using any tech support outside our organization. We are handling it internally.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used some solutions in the past, but in our organization, there was no centralized management application before SCCM.

How was the initial setup?

It is not hard to deploy and manage, but you need some knowledge of what you want to do. SCCM is strictly based on the specific configuration of the network. Therefore, you need to know the network configuration and how to use Microsoft Active Directory. If you have made a bad choice at the beginning, it will be hard to roll back and redeploy it. It works well when the environment is well configured. It doesn't really work well when the corporate network is not as good as it should be.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its price is okay because it is part of our licensing.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend having someone to help with the deployment because the success of its deployment depends on the experience of the people who are deploying it. If you don't have enough experienced people in the internal IT department, it would be helpful to have a consultant from outside the organization to assist you.

I would rate SCCM an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1475949 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer
Real User
Scalable with good management and an excellent set of features
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has a very good set of features."
  • "The analysis is something that can be integrated. Their report analysis can be improved a little bit due to the fact that most of the time complaints policies are saved by the admins. It's something that we need to look into and search for."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for patch management.

What is most valuable?

The solution may be one of the top products from a management standpoint. It's excellent.

The solution has a very good set of features.

Its capabilities are quite robust.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes the time it takes to find the fault is a bit too long. The resolution time needs to be shortened quite a bit. There are just some analysis errors that need to be cleared up quicker in general. Otherwise, data blocks and the firewall can be affected unnecessarily.

The analysis is something that can be integrated. Their report analysis can be improved a little bit due to the fact that most of the time complaints policies are saved by the admins. It's something that we need to look into and search for. It would be nice if there was just a cohesive report of what was saved, etc. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with the solution for about two and a half years at this point.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is very good. We don't have any issues with it. It's very reliable. I'd give it five stars.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. We do have options to integrate other products as well. You want to combine your MDM solution with SCCM, for example. Scalability is something I would give them five stars for.

As admins, we do have rules for distributing. Basically, to manage inventory on all those steps. In our current organization, we are connected to approximately 300 million servers.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't previously use a different solution. Previous to initiating the use of SCCM, everything was pretty much a manual process.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not complex. I believe it is very straightforward. You can choose to do it manually or you can do it via an automation feature that is available to push everything for you. 

Depending upon how big your organization is, how the sites are spread across mainly on physical entities, on logical entities, the installation and the detection will not take much time. In most cases you can have it configured in five to ten minutes in order to detect once the reporting gets updated. That said, if there are different geographical locations, the entire process can take a day or so. 

What was our ROI?

I've had to reach out to technical support in the past and I'm satisfied with their level of service. They are very knowledgeable and responsive.

What other advice do I have?

We're just a customer and an end-user. We don't have a business relationship with SCCM.

Overall, I would rate the solution at a seven out of ten. We've been mostly satisfied with it as a product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Reviewer309 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
MSP
There is a faster time to rollout. If we get a new PC, it can be ready for productivity right away.
Pros and Cons
  • "There is a faster time to rollout. If we get a new PC, it can be ready for productivity right away."
  • "Troubleshooting in general needs improvement. There's just a ton of logs to go through, and so finding the error log that corresponds with that you're doing can sometimes be difficult."

What is our primary use case?

It's mainly end-point management, right imaging, patching,and third-party application.

How has it helped my organization?

There is a faster time to rollout. If we get a new PC, they can get in there and be ready to be productive right away, so I would say that would be the biggest improvement.

What is most valuable?

They have built-in Windows 10 servicing model, and all that, so it makes it easier to bring in upgrades.

What needs improvement?

Troubleshooting in general needs improvement. There's just a ton of logs to go through, and so finding the error log that corresponds with that you're doing can sometimes be difficult.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

One quarter of our company still uses BigFix, and we are currently trying to determine whether we should switch everyone to SCCM.

How was the initial setup?

It is straightforward. I am currently setting up a new version, and it is easy because we have the existing infrastructure.

What was our ROI?

Do your research, make sure you know what you're getting into with it, and make sure that it fits your needs.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Overall, I think it's fine. It's pretty much in-line because there are ways to offset it with the Office 365 licensing.

What other advice do I have?

They are very aggressive with the feature steps that they're adding right, so every 6 months they come out with a bunch of new features, so I like that.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1260267 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Stable, scales well, and the technical support team works quickly
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the scalability."
  • "The deployment process is lengthy and should be quicker to complete."

What is our primary use case?

I am a system administrator and I use the System Center Configuration Manager for test deployment and Windows update.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the scalability.

What needs improvement?

If you need to reboot the system during Windows Update, it can take a long time.

The deployment process is lengthy and should be quicker to complete.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have three years of experience with SCCM.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I haven't had any problems with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable product. We have approximately 1,000 users and we plan to continue using it into the future.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support from Microsoft is fast,

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not use another solution prior to this one.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not easy. It takes about half an hour to install, and then it has to be configured. The deployment will take approximately six hours in total.

What about the implementation team?

I deployed it myself.

What other advice do I have?

In summary, this product works well and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1505493 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a educational organization with 11-50 employees
Real User
Easy to use, easy to install and deploys quickly, but it's not stable and it needs to be more robost
Pros and Cons
  • "It is easy to install, and quick to deploy."
  • "The database should be made to be more stable and robust, but not so much the configuration."

What is our primary use case?

In most cases, it is used by us to deploy software or manage configurations of certain applications.

We are pushing the WSUS updates through it and getting the normal systems grouping. 

You can do your software package through it and you can create and run scripts.

What needs improvement?

The database should be made to be more stable and robust, but not so much the configuration.

I am not sure if it is just bad administration and maintenance, but it fails quite a lot.

For me, it's the database, or maybe it's the maintenance overhead. It could be that it requires a lot of maintenance. If you don't maintain it, things could go wrong, this is my assumption.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for a couple of months.

We are using the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is not always stable. When it works it works, but It has a very sensitive database and it almost always crashes when we use it, especially if you don't take care of it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I can't really say that the scalability is good or bad because I haven't had to do much of it.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have never used any other similar product.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to install and quick to deploy.

We have admins to maintain this solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn't really evaluate other products.

We are more of a Microsoft house. It works out better to use these products.

What other advice do I have?

As I have not used any other product, I can't say that I would or wouldn't recommend SCCM. If there is anything better, I would like to know.

It works, but the database fails almost every time. I would rate SCCM a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Configuration Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Configuration Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.